Heart of Ash and Coal
by wolfy336
Summary: The back-story of Zorin Blitz
1. Prolouge

Heart of Ash and Coal

Prologue

The doctor looked over what he had been told would be his next test subject. Quite frankly, he wasn't impressed. She was only of moderate build, nothing extraordinary, save for her height; which was much taller than normal. And, although her skin tone tried its best to hide it, her body was littered with scars, well hidden to even your normal vampire's eyes, but not to a professional like himself. Coupled with her extremely short hair, it seemed clear to the doctor that she held more endurance than your average female. Like a man trapped in a woman's body.

Though he could see why the major took an interest to her (For any regenerating vampire that had survived any event which was as violent to leave her almost invisible scars was definitely worthy of note), he still had serious doubts as to whether this test subject was to survive. She was, after all, a woman, and the first one to enter this experiment at that. All the other men, even the most promising ones, had never even come close to being able to endure the effects of having every muscle in their body enlarged to its physical limit so suddenly. Though the toll to the body had been carefully regulated to be survivable by now, it was the pain that seemed to push people past the point that they could handle; for this this trail of endurance was not just one of the body, but of the mind as well. All survivors of the first part of the experiment had completely lost whatever bit of sanity they had left, becoming a danger to Millennium itself, and therefore a threat that had to be eliminated.

But there was no other choice, no other test than this for those who wanted to be able to survive possessing the power of the demon eye, and the major had been very clear about his decision.

He pushed up his glasses and began asking the mandatory questions "Test subject number forty-three?"

"Ja" the female responded in German, her voice devoid of any obvious emotion.

"Good. Before we begin I need to ask you some questions. Just formalities, surely you understand"

She was silent, her piercing green eyes focused on the metal chair that she would have to be strapped to.

The major stood near the doctor, giving him a side-ways glance to tell him that the vampire in front of him was less than social.

Clearing his throat, the doctor proceeded with his questions "I know you have been warned of the risks of this experiment before, but I will remind you once more. Are you aware that this could kill you?"

"Ja"

"Are you aware that this will be the most painful experience in your life? That this will push you past the amount of pain a human could even feel?"

"Ja" Her voice was as cold as ice.

"Are you aware that no other test subject has ever survived, and that you will probably meet the same fate? That you will most definitely die an agonizing death and have nothing to show for it?"

"Ja" No fear. No anxiety. Nothing.

"You can still turn back. If you walk away from this, no one will resent you. This will not work unless you are certain you want to endure this. I will ask you one more time: do you want to go through with this?"

"Ja"

"Very well, now, for the records, will you tell me your name?"

"Zorin Blitz"


	2. Chapter 1: Blood of Family

Chapter 1: Blood of Family

Do you honestly think that Zorin was always the woman we see her as now? That she was always this sadistic monster who would love nothing more than to tear apart every other person on this earth, piece by piece?

Well that's what she seems to be in most people's eyes: the greatest abomination known to humanity. Perhaps that's what she is, but it makes you wonder how many people stop and think about what turned her into that. I wish I could tell you that this wasn't the case, that Zorin was a cruel and immoral human being from the very beginning, a victim of a mental disorder that no one knew how to handle in her time period. If only it were that simple. But the truth is, it would be unfair to say that she wasn't anything less than a monster that the world around her brought upon itself.

But I'm not here to tell you the story of Zorin Blitz, one of the most feared vampires among her kind: grand illusionist that loves to tear apart mind, body and soul on command. I am here to tell you the story of Heidi Bracher, curse to her family from the moment she came to earth, due to no other fact but the gender she was born with.

She was a summer child, born on the third of June, 1922. Germany had suffered the humiliating loss of the First World War, and was struggling to repay the debts they owed to the Allies. Her hometown, Berlin, was under harsh times, but had not yet hit the great depression of the 1930's. Parents still managed to care for their kids, and life went on. For the most part anyways. For the majority of people. You have probably guessed by now that Heidi wasn't part of that majority. Many generations of her family had already been criminals in lives long since passed. When Heidi's father, Ludwig, was told that his wife had died giving birth to a baby girl, he was less than ecstatic.

Though the Bracher family had long held deep roots of sexism, Ludwig was far worse off than most. He, at first, refused to even refer to his daughter as his own child, telling the doctors that had named her that he didn't want to have anything to do with "that thing", the newborn who he blamed for the death of his wife. No one knows how the doctor was able to convince him to take her home, but I myself am not sure that this is what the Zorin Blitz we know today would have wanted to happen.

For you see, the first thing that an infant can and should learn is trust, and I can guarantee you that no one came when little Heidi cried. I often wonder what would have become of the girl if things had been different. Would she have been successful, intelligent, outgoing? Kind, talented, or even shy? Sometimes it's good to ponder, but, in this case, it's best not to dwell in thoughts that will never reach a conclusion. For even as a small child, Heidi never held any of her innocence; and it wasn't solely because of her father's abusive tendencies and short temper, for Heidi did not grow up alone. In her household were two older twin brothers: Richard and Zacharias.

Richard was the easily corruptible one, un-resistant to temptations of all sorts, whether it'd be money, fame, or simple approval from his father, he let his ideas be shaped by those around him. He followed the path of profit rather than morality, and the only part about him that was truly unique to himself was his extremist view towards Catholicism, in which he shared the same violent beliefs as the most shamed of the dreaded Iscariots. Of course, these dreadful beliefs would only truly be expressed in his adulthood.

Zacharias, on the other hand, was a corrupted person from the very start. Mentally deranged and without any sense of morality to begin with, given the environment he was raised in, was a recipe for disaster. Cruel, twisted, and even more short-tempered than his father, Heidi learned to fear him more than anyone else in her life.

It would take far too much time to give an accurate description of Heidi's childhood if I were to name all the events that happened to her, the things that tore anything that was left of her innocence, piece by piece. It was the little things that threw her off at first, the name-calling and clear favoritism towards her brothers. By the age of one, she had already determined that neither her father nor her brothers cared for her, and the words "Bitch" and "Cunt" almost became complete synonyms for her name. Things only became worse by the age of five, where verbal and mental abuse had turned into a physical level. But it soon became the norm to the outside world, which soon stopped questioning the scratches, cuts and bruises present on her arms, legs and neck. And since her brothers copied after their father, there wasn't any relief to be found. She became cold, distant….trying and failing time and time again to escape her own emotions. Having no friend and three relatives that she could hardly call family, her existence was miserable.

Then, out of some unknown inspiration, on the tenth of September, when she was about eight, Heidi suddenly became determined to change herself: to try and force herself out of her suffering. If her family discriminated her because she was a girl, then she was going to make sure she was like a boy as much as possible, so the outside world would treat her as such.

She was shaking as she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, pocket knife in her right hand. She knew she shouldn't have stolen it from Zacharias. It was a bad thing. Such a very, very bad thing. He would surely get very angry at her for it. But she had to do this. She had to cut her long, orange-hair to make it look like all the boys'! If she didn't look like a boy, she couldn't act like one.

She held up one of her long strands in her left hand, bringing the pocket knife against the locks. The instrument's blade was rather dull, so it took a reasonable amount of force for the small girl, who winced slightly as it tugged her hair. It was a slow and tedious process, but in less than ten minutes, her carrot colored hair littered the floor. She looked at herself in the mirror, looking over her improvised hair cut with her emerald eyes over a hundred times. It wasn't pretty, or even well done,….but boys didn't care about that sort of stuff, and she wouldn't either.

Heidi gave a small, panicked gasp as she heard footsteps from outside the door. She threw the pocket knife in her hand several feet away from her, getting down on her knees to desperately try and somehow clean up the mess she had created. She closed her eyes in fear as she heard the door open. She, unfortunately, heard the one voice she had prayed it wouldn't be.

"What the fuck did you do you stupid cunt? What the hell did you just do with my knife?" It was Zacharias, shouting and glaring down at her with his piercing blue eyes.

"I…I…" Heidi couldn't find her words as he approached her, unable to stand and face her black-haired older brother of five years. Her hands and knees were shaking badly, her eyes glued to the floor.

Her older brother grabbed her by the freshly cut hair, lifting her and bringing her left arm behind her back "I asked you what the fuck you were doing!"

The little girl let out small squeal, like that of a trapped animal. She was terrified of Zacharias, and with good reason too. Unlike her father, who's mood swings tended to be predictable to her by now, she always caught Zacharias in a mood that was horrible for her. Happy, angry or sad, he always found an excuse to torment the poor girl: whether it'd be through using her as a punching bag or just a toy of his sheer enjoyment, there was never any relief.

"I-I was cutting my h-hair!" Heidi answered him, trembling violently and choking back tears "I-I wanted to look more like a boy! To-to look more like you!"

"What? What the hell did you do?" His grip on her arm tightened and the young girl cried out in pain, squirming, kicking and desperately trying to get free.

"Stop it! Stop it! Please! You're hurting me!" she was crying now, salty tears staining her cheeks a bright red.

"You think you can fucking pretend that you're a boy and we'll treat you like that? Do you really think that's how things work?"

"J-just let me try!"

"Try? You want me to let you try?"

And with that, Zacharias twisted her arm, and brought with it the horrible cracking of bone.


End file.
